Lesson One
Family Done Differently

Pastor Ryan Story

Memory Verse: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8 

As a child, I remember watching shows with quite a variety of plots: “Family Matters,” “Full House,” “Home Improvement,” “Fresh Prince,” and “Step by Step.” Every one of those sitcoms, portrayed to me what family was. While I did not watch older shows, I remember watching shows such as “Little House on the Prairie,” “Leave it to Beaver,” “The Munsters,” and “The Brady Bunch,” and remember thinking how different the families were on those old-school shows to the newer sitcoms that I enjoyed watching.  

1. What television sitcom or movie would you say most represents your family? What sitcom or movie would you say was the most different from your family?  

One of the realities that has always struck me as interesting was despite the fact that each show was very different, the value of family was there. Each show may have had a different target audience or portrayed the realities of a struggle in an era, yet the concept of a healthy family was there. Sadly for the church, these classic television shows can have more of an influence than the Word of God. We tend to look to Danny Tanner, Uncle Phil, or Carl Winslow as the model parent rather than those in the Bible. The hope is for Christian families to want to be different from the world. The person we are going to be studying is Abraham.

Genesis 11:27-32 records, “Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.” 

2. Why were families so important in the days of Terah? 

There are always tons of details that get overlooked when reading the Bible. When we read something familiar, our brains tend to put information into context out of order. At this moment, when we read about Abram and Sarai, we can have the tendency to jump to the part of the story where they are living for God. At the moment the Bible introduces Abram, he is spiritually bankrupt. His family is living in a pagan city. They are surrounded by worldly ideologies and practices. In the book of Joshua, Joshua tells of the covenant that was formed and describes Terah and Abram as men who “served other gods” (Joshua 24:2). To make matters worse, while Terah and Abram were making the track to Canaan, they experienced the loss of Lot’s father, Haran. While it is not explicitly said, Abram’s family settled in the city of Heran, an area that would eventually house the worship of the false moon god, Sin. This soon-to-be “Father of a Nation” begins his family journey as an idol-worshiping, pagan wanderer.  

3. Why is the beginning of our story always important to remember? 

Abram’s story starts with him settling in a place that was less than Jesus-honoring. While this is before Abram was called, so there is an element of us needing to withhold our judgment. The sad reality is that sometimes, those of us who are called redeemed believers of the work and person of Jesus, act like a “pre-called” Abraham, and settle into looking like the world in the way we “do family.”  

4. Where do you tend to "settle" with your family? 

Luckily for Abram (and us), God interrupts our settling.  

Genesis 12:1-3 says, “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”  

5. What are the three areas God told Abram to go from? What is the significance to each of these areas? 

6. Which of these is the most difficult to leave behind? Why are each of these so important to "do family differently"? 

Abram was presented with the greatest opportunity any man has ever had. He was presented with the promise that the God of the universe would make a great nation out of his line. Abram’s family would literally be a blessing to the world. When presented with the overwhelming wonder of this call from God, only a fool would say “no.” The next nine words are the beginning of what made family different for Abram and what makes family different for us.  

Genesis 12:4 says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him…”  

7. Why is Abraham’s obedience to God so crucial to seeing family done differently? What does that mean for us and our families? 

8. What did Abram have to possess in order to be obedient? 

Hebrews 11:8-19 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”  

9. Why is faith in God so essential to everything?  

10. Why is it easier to do what we want ("settle") than it is to obey ("went")? 

This month, if family is going to be done differently, we have to look to Abram as an example. Abram was just like all of us. He was sinful, worshiped things over God, and lived in a world that idolized sin. Abram did what we have all done at some point; we settled and lived like the world. However, God called Abram out of a dark, purposeless place. If it is important to know where we came from, why is it important to know what God can bless us with when we live for him? 

11. How can you begin to do family differently?  

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